Church News & Local Events Notes from Morland Vicarage It’s good to be back, and I’d like to begin with a big thank you to everyone for keeping JAM: Jesus and Me for pre-school children and parents. the show on the road during my sabbatical. For me it’s been a wonderful gift of time, for December: which I’m immensely grateful. My pilgrimage to the Holy Land was a particular high- Crosby: Monday 4th December at 9.30am light and I hope you might join me in Morland Village Hall on Monday 11 th December at 7.30 where I’ll be sharing my photos, my experiences and some Palestinian food. Morland: Monday 11th December at 9.30am This Christmas, my mind will be cast back to Bethlehem and two thing particularly: the January: way the Bible leaps out at you in 3D from the landscape; and the plight of the amazing Bolton: Wednesday 17th January at 9.45 am Palestinian Christians, spending Christmas hemmed in behind the dividing wall. From the perspective of 21 st century Britain, the Bible story of Jesus’ birth seems strange and Morland: Monday 15th January at 9.30am mystical. On one hand, that has helped to emphasise the holiness of the story, which Crosby: Monday 22nd January at 9.30am makes it dear to our hearts. But on the other hand it can also make it seem less real, per- Morland Home Group haps less believable. Until the modern state of Israel brought rapid development during Only one meeting has been arranged for December. It is at 2.30p.m. On Tuesday the the last few decades, the land had changed very little from Biblical times. And that de- 12th of December at 31,Jackson Croft, Morland. velopment has not reached the Palestinian territories, so they still look largely like a page January meetings are on Tuesdays at 2.30p.m.on the 9th and on the 23rd of the out of Luke’s Gospel - I actually saw a pregnant lady riding a donkey, led by her hus- month.Venues have not yet been arranged. For further details please ring band, riding across terraced fields! Being there made sense of so much. 01931714455 For much of history, the people of the Holy Land dwelt in Troglodyte houses, building Morland Mothers' Union out from, or on top of caves carved in the limestone. People lived with their animals, • Thursday 21st December at 7.30pm: ‘A Lighthearted Look at Christmas’. Family much as they did in our Longhouses – both a house and a stable. Beneath the great Byz- and friends welcome to join us at Morland Village Hall. antine and Franciscan churches that have been built on top of it, the Troglodyte house • In January our meeting will take the form of our annual lunch together. The date that functioned as Bethlehem’s inn is still largely as it was, apart from the wall that now and venue will be communicated to members by email (or phone) well before the event. separates the animals’ quarters, from the human quarters – the wall which now separates the domain of the two churches. The animals’ area is now richly decorated with altars Thrimby Coffee Evening and votive lamps, venerating the spot where Jesus was born and laid in a manger, but the 7.30 pm on Wednesday 6th December 2017 at Low Hall by kind invitation of Liz rest of the house is largely unadorned and it requires no imagination at all to be trans- and Matt McQuillan. All welcome. NB. No coffee evening in January. ported back to that night on which Jesus was born. Bethlehem means ‘House of Bread’, Morland and Newby W.I. but it was (and is) part of three connected communities, including Beit Jala (House of • Thursday December 14th Christmas Dinner. 7.30 Millyard Cafe Wine) and Beit Sahour, the House of the Shepherds. There was indeed, as Luke says, a • We are having an afternoon meeting on THURSDAY 11th JANUARY community of shepherds in that region, no further than Cliburn is from Morland. Their in the Village Hall from 2-4. This will be a tea-party with tastings of different teas and a troglodyte houses are still there too. Piece by piece, the whole thing emerges as more tea quiz to support the County Federation’s project to help women in Pakistan under ordinary, more real, more believable. And I suppose that’s my point. The more holy we the auspices of the Association of Country Women of the World. Do come and support make things, the less ordinary and believable they can seem. But the more ordinary a worthwhile cause all for the price of a cup of tea-£1.50. Mums and Dads picking up things are, the less we see God in them. Surely the first lesson God teaches us in Jesus is children from school are most welcome to pop in for a cuppa- and no doubt there will that he is present in the ordinary, everydayness of life – a real child born in a real place, be something to nibble as well! living a real life that was completely ordinary. Yet he was still the almighty God who King’s Meaburn W.I. made the whole creation, who visited us and redeemed us. These days, sadly, there are Wednesday 6th December: Quiz Night at King’s Meaburn Hall. 7.30 pm few shepherds left in Bethlehem. The wall of separation has taken away most of their Bolton Nursery and All Saints Church are holding a coffee morning on December 2nd pasture and the poverty of those shepherds, many of whom are Christian to this day, is in the Memorial Hall 10.00 until 11.30 am. heartbreaking. Perhaps this Christmas we can all reconnect with the reality of God in our midst, seeing his presence in and care for everyday reality, experiencing his power to transform our everyday life, and by transforming us transforming the world. Maybe we can begin by helping the plight of those shepherds this Christmas through a donation to the Friends of the Holy Land or Embrace the Middle East (the charity that produces the Please support our advertisers: Bethlehem Carol Sheets). Peace on earth and goodwill to all people. Happy Christmas to you all. Stewart ... they cover a large part of the cost of printing this magazine . i ii Christmas Services 2017 From our Registers Services in our communities The funeral of Jean Hall took place at Carlisle Crematorium on Tuesday 10th October. The funeral of Claire Burne took place in St Cuthbert, Cliburn on Saturday 21st Octo- Askham with Lowther: ber and her mortal remains were laid to rest in the churchyard. Carol Service – Sunday 17 th December @ 11.00am at Askham Crib Service – Christmas Eve @ 5.00pm at Askham Christmas Day – Holy Communion @ 11.00am at Lowther Bolton: United Carol Service - Sunday 17 th December @ 6.30pm in Church Winter Weddings Midnight Mass – Christmas Eve @ 11.30pm This Winter there will be a number of weddings in our parishes. You might want to come Cliburn: & cheer on the happy couples, or just lock them in until the pay up!!! Carol Service Friday 22nd December @ 7.00pm Date Time Couple Venue Midnight Mass - Christmas Eve @ 11.30pm 02/12/17 1.00 Thomas McGill & Katharine Roberts Askham Clifton & Brougham: 27/12/17 1.00 Mark Cash & Amy Furness Askham th Carol Service – Sunday 17 December @ 3.00pm at Clifton Holy Communion by ext. – Christmas Eve @ 9.30pm at Brougham 20/01/18 1.00 Andrew Holdstock & Nathalie Oakley Askham Crosby Ravensworth: 27/01/18 12.00 Christopher Featherstone & Alice Askham McNulty Carol Service – Wednesday 13 th December @ 6.00pm Christmas Day – Family Communion @ 10.30am An Evening in the Holy Land Great Strickland: Carol Service – Friday 22 nd December @ 7.00pm 11 December 2017, 7.30pm Midnight Mass – Christmas Eve @ 11.00pm Morland & Newby Village Hall Morland: Christingle – Sunday 17 th December @ 3.00pm Stewart shares his sabbatical experiences Carols in the Pub – Monday 18 th December @ 7.00pm Bethlehem – Galilee – the West Bank - Jerusalem Carol Service – Saturday 23 rd December @ 7.30pm Photographs and insights into the Biblical sites and the current situation Christmas Eve Communion – Christmas Eve @ 10.00am between Israel and Palestine Crib Service – Christmas Eve @ 5.00pm Christmas Day – Family Communion @ 10.30am Including some Palestinian food to sample Thrimby: Entry free. Collection to be taken for Friends of the Holy Land Carol Service - Sunday 17 th December @ 6.30pm iii iv MORLAND AND NEWBY W.I. Morland's CROWN INN SINGERS invite you to join them on We are having an aernoon th meeng on MONDAY 18 DECEMBER for an evening of THURSDAY 11th JANUARY in the Village Hall from 2-4. This CAROLS in the PUB will be a tea-party with tasngs of different teas and a tea quiz to Songsheets provided. Possibility of mince pies and other en- support the County Federaon’s tertainments. Start about 7.00 pm project to help women in Paki- stan under the auspices of the Associaon of Country Women of MISSION ACCOMPLISHED Following major heart surgery in 1999, I was fortunate to regain my fitness quickly and within two months was the World. Do come and support climbing the Lake District mountains again. In April of this year, I completed the 214 Wainwright peaks for the a worthwhile cause all for the third time and set up a fundraising objective to raise money for three charities:- “The British Heart Foundation“, “Take Heart“ and “The Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Associa- price of a cup of tea-£1.50.